Isle of Korriven

Bleak, windswept and forbidding, the climate and landscape of Korriven is often intolerable to those who have not been raised among its rocks. It is dominated by the Korriv Barrenlands, a stark landscape of tundra and moor perpetually shrouded in unnatural fog. These lands were scarred by glaciers, which left tremendous boulders scattered haphazardly across the earth and scraped away much of the island's fertile soil to reveal bare rocks beneath. These godforsaken areas are dotted with numerous pockets of coniferous subarctic forest, which provide the lumber used for making the island's many ships. The island's northern reaches are still blanketed in glaciers and snow, and have so far been barely explored. Numerous rivers flow down from the glaciers, providing fresh water for the island's population, and several natural springs also create creeks. The rocky coastlines of Korriven are where the majority of Endlanders have made their home.    The isle is located in the middle of the Nakurkomaduhuq ("Sea of Shipwrecks" in Old Korriv), which, despite its tempestuous weather, is one of the richest fishing grounds in the world. Its waters sustain tremendous shoals of cod, capelin, haddock, and herring, to name a few. It is also full of shellfish such as lobster, and it supports a massive number of bowhead whales, which supply more oil and whalebone than any other species. Ambergris, a well-known but mysterious ingredient in perfumes and dishes, frequently washes up on the shores of Korriven.   Despite its undeniable harshness, this land once thought to be the edge of the world possesses a strange, savage beauty. It is depicted frequently in Korriv art, and mainland poets have frequently written treatises of its beauty. Kzendokku Deishakumi, an Onashigeni captain shipwrecked on its shores, wrote several short passages detailing its otherworldly serenity.

Korriven and the surrounding sea is the domain of horrors unmatched upon this sphere of existance (save perhaps in the tangled jungle heart of the Qgwaari Qom, or the noxious bush of Aazater). In the grey seas of the Nakurkomaduhuq there lurk the fabled krakens, tremendous, black, and long-beaked squids with toothlike rending barbs upon their myriad arms. Although they cannot pull down ships as some legends say, they can rip apart a ship's hull and drag its shattered remains into the depths. Above the sea there circle the huge requiem drakes, largest of all dragon species. They are equipped with massive arm muscles and gnarled horns, yet are oddly not predators, but largely scavengers. They feed on shipwrecks, and it is believed by some that they have minor prophetic powers which allow them to forsee storms. In place of fire, they can exhale a mist which makes humans drowsy and often puts them to sleep; thus their ships will easily crash or founder. Yet far more deadly than either is the great nennorluk, which preys upon krakens and drakes alike. in form, they appear to be some monstrous bear, yet are larger than the largest dragons. They are largely aquatic and can hold their breath for hours, yet are not skilled swimmers; they must walk along the sea floor. Their backs are covered in white fur similar to that of the water bear, yet their undersides are bare, thick skin which looks like the hide of the rhinoceros. When sighted at sea, they are frequently mistaken for icebergs until it is too late.   On land, the island hosts a large population of moose and caribou, and a few of the great, shaggy northern oxen and the elephantine mammoths roam its northern extremity. Predators include huge black bears far larger than any on the mainland, with snouts as black as the rest of the rest of their pelts. There is also a large population of shaggy, mastiff-like wild dogs which were probably later domesticated to become Korriv sea-dogs. There is a large variety of foxes, ranging from arctic to red, as well as coyotes. The largest aerial predators are the giant, long-legged crows which legends say can occasionally grow as large as rocs (as rocs are themselves seemingly similar to the crow, it is not implausible that they are related). One of the oddest beasts to roam the isle is the barrenlands direhorse, a vast, devilish horse-fiend which kills and eats any living creatures nearby. The bogs are haunted by werelights, and wendigos stalk the woods. Some believe that an incredibly powerful and sorcerous species of giant, the mist giant, dwells in the wild heart of Korriven.